Color me IDIOTIC and spank me with a flatulent Chihuahua!!
It turns out that I was my own worst enemy on this! When I was installing my hard drives into my new box, I saw something labeled F-AUDIO, and a cord & plug that looked like a perfect fit (which they did), so I put them together thinking they were supposed to go together. So, this morning I unplugged what I had mistakenly put together, and VOILA! I now have audio...which make me a very happy camper.
many thanks to: old-polack & Writhen for their assistance.
